Why do I always make sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving dinner? And why do grocery stores highlight all the ingredients for green bean casserole every November? Traditions are a big part of the holidays, for sure. And some of them go way back in time.

For instance, there’s a good chance that turkey was on the table in 1621 when the colonists in Plymouth, Mass., gathered to thank God for a successful harvest after surviving a grueling winter. Wild turkeys were abundant at the time.

I just recently learned, however, that Thanksgiving turkeys spawned the frozen dinner industry. Right after Thanksgiving in 1953, the Swanson food company unexpectedly found itself with 260 tons(!) of leftover frozen turkeys.

From their headquarters in Omaha, Neb., they packaged and froze cooked turkey on

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